Did you know that there was an Italian Antonio Ponto from Venice, sailing with Captain Cook? Or that a 14 year old Sicilian sailed to Botany Bay with the First Fleet? Or that Ricchiotti Garibaldi, son of Giuseppe Garibaldi, lived in Victoria during the 1800s?

Italians began arriving in significant numbers during the gold rushes in eastern Australia in the early 1850's and in New Zealand in the 1860s. Today there are many thousands who are descended from Italian migrants and who may wish to trace their roots back, but need some suggestions as to how to do so.

The author provides useful suggestions as to where to find those first vital clues to your origins. There are sections on the Italian language and names; letters in Italian (with English translations) to help you track down information at the source; travel tips for researchers making the trip to your family's hometown; accounts of three Australians' visits to the land of their ancestors; a detailed section describing Italy's 22 regions; Australian and New Zealand addresses of major government departments, libraries, archives, genealogical and historical societies.

Contents:PrefaceUseful Terms1. Getting Started - Where do I being? - What about pens and pencils? - What kind of forms should I use? - How should I records brothers and sisters? - How do I arrange these charts? - What about my notes? - How do I file certificates and documents? - How do I record a descendant chart? - Is it possible someone else might be tracing my tree? - What about computer programmes? - Summary of your needs2. Adventuring Out - Where do I go? - Archive Offices - State Libraries - Council Libraries - Specialist Australian Libraries - Historical Societies - LDS Branch Genealogical Libraries - Genealogical Societies and Family History Groups - Family History Organisations - Hiring a Professional Researcher - Family History Videos 3. Certificates - Do I Have to Get All Those Certificates? How Do I Get Them? - Useful Addresses - New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland Research Steps - Family Research in Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia4. Other Records - What About my Early Australian Ancestors? - Procedure for Finding a pre-1956 New South Wales Christening Record - Other Early Records - Directories - Newspapers - Wills - Summary5. Shipping Records - How Can I Find Out When my Ancestor Arrived? - Assisted Immigrants - Unassisted Immigrant or Paying Passengers - Crew Lists and Captains - Convict Indents - Other - Australia's Immigration Wall of Honour - Summary6. Skeletons, Scallywags and Scandals - Samples of Information on Convict Indents - Suggested Reading7. Aboriginal Genealogy8. New Zealand Genealogy - Immigration - Maori Genealogy (or Whakapapa) - Useful Addresses9. Ethnic Australians - Genealogical Society Addresses10. Writing the Family History - How Do I Write the Family Story? - Setting it Out - Photographs - Old Documents - Sharing the InformationIndex